Cancer Immunotherapy Responses and How a PET Scan Can Predict Them

Many years ago, cancer is almost impossible to cure. Those who have been diagnosed with it almost immediately lose hope because of the absence of reliable remedy. Today, various treatment methods are now accessible. The latest and arguably the safest and with least impact on healthy cells is immunotherapy. This involves directly or indirectly using the immune system to fight off cancer cell growth.

Unfortunately, like other cancer treatment methods, not everyone responses well to immunotherapy. It’s crucial for doctors to predict a patient’s potential response to immunotherapy so that they can determine right away whether or not there’s a need to use other treatment methods. Researchers have discovered that a positron emission tomography (PET) scan might be able to help.

PET is an imaging technique that involves injecting a radioactive substance in the body, which the specialized scanner can trace. This imaging technique can help doctors with a lot of important processes, including measuring blood flow, oxygen use, and glucose metabolism.

In a study published in the journal Cancer Research, researchers have found out that granzyme B, a type of substance used in PET scans, is elevated in patients that have had an appropriate immunotherapy response. Knowing this, doctors can now use the information they will obtain from PET scans to determine if a certain cancer-diagnosed patient can effectively respond to immunotherapy.

This breakthrough in the health care industry has enabled doctors around the globe to set up the right treatment plans for cancer patients and therefore give them a better chance at fighting their condition. Researchers are continuing to explore the potentials of a PET Scan in aiding the continuous battle against cancer. This path is preferred by many doctors since it leads to a solution that does not compromise the patient’s health while going through the treatment.



Sources:

New PET imaging method developed to predict immunotherapy response, dotmed.com

What Is a PET Scan?, healthline.com

What Is Cancer?, cancer.com